Election diary No 8. Saturday, January 29 2022.

As one summers day oozes into the next and the heat on small bald feet diminishes, kids, prepare for the start of another school year, having learned that it isn’t as bad as they thought.

Having downed his last stubbie and Mum having prepared her last meal in unfamiliar surroundings, both give their thoughts to returning to work.

Unlike most years, this one is different. Mum and Dad and all those 18 and over will have to vote, some for the first time. And others like my wife and I will be doing so for the umpteenth time.

Some take it seriously. Others do so because they are expected to. Most vote for the same party every time. Too many, because they are dissatisfied with the system, don’t vote at all. And then some vote after giving serious consideration to why they are doing so.

With a likely May election, now is the time we all pay more attention to what our politicians are doing and saying. Given that the stakes are so high in this election, people may give their thoughts over to things like integrity now that the current media focuses somewhat on politicians’ behaviour.

When l say the stakes are high, I’m not kidding. This Government collectively is a bunch of the most corrupt, self-serving politicians who will further destroy our democracy if given the opportunity.

There is an abundance of evidence to support my claims. Even now, we have a repetitive TV commercial that claims emissions have come down by 15%, whereas The Guardian reports they have risen by 7%. It might just be me, but I’ll take The Guardian‘s word over the Government’s any day.

The pre-election period is when the Government thinks it’s perfectly alright to spend our taxpayer’s money on falsehoods that make them look good. The budget for this lying rises considerably before each election.

If you live on a hill, look out for the pork barrels

There is always the temptation to use taxpayers’ money in marginal seats in the pre-election period. No doubt, most will recall the Sports Rorts affair when in the lead-up to the 2019 election, the Government used the $100m community sports grants program to prop up many seats. Later a massive scandal broke when the Auditor General found the grants were not awarded consistent with assessed merit and were biased in favour of marginal electorates.

This was followed by the revelation that the Auditor General also had a problem with $660m allocated to 47 sites for commuter car parks. 77% were located in Coalition electorates. Headlines like; Sports rorts on steroids’: scathing report finds Coalition car park program not effective or merit-based followed.

With a significantly increased war chest of $15.9bn in unidentified spending for “decisions taken but not yet announced,” a whopping increase on the previous year’s December budget update figure of $1.5bn.

We must be vigilant and watch out for the Government’s pork barrelling attempts in marginal seats. It is difficult to see them trying to put one over on the electorate again, but it isn’t beyond them.

The money rolls in

Political donations begin to roll in during the pre-election period to back the winner and buy influence into the future.

The big story in the 2019 election was Clive Palmer’s $60m to fund his own campaign. There wasn’t a suggestion of illegality, and he failed to win a seat; however, there can be no doubt that his repetitious anti-Labor advertising made a considerable difference to the Coalition’s vote.

Yes, you’re correct. Grattan Institute analysis tells us that the parties’ top 5% of donors account for more than half of their declared donations. And guess who they might be.

We all know of the subsidies given to the gambling companies property, mining and construction companies that would be better spent elsewhere. No wonder their donations are so sizable.

Something urgently needs to be done about political donations and their disclosure. An excellent first step to squashing this grey corruption is making it more visible.

Real-time disclosure is a must. The Grattan Institute reports that:

“… we won’t find out where the money came from until February 2023 because donation disclosures are only published annually. And even then we will only get a partial picture because high declarations thresholds and big loopholes mean that the major parties generally declare less than 60% of their total private funding.”

Taxpayer-funded political advertising

Governments frequently significantly bolster taxpayer-funded advertising in the months before election campaigns.

The guidelines are supposed to restrict taxpayer-funded advertising for political purposes. However, the Grattan Institute examinations tell us:

“… that over the past five elections, federal governments have doubled their spending in the two-to-three months before an election, compared to the previous three months.”

With a budget in March, goodness knows what they will throw into their electioneering.

The analysis published in The Guardian suggests another 59 million dollars will be spent on advertising.

The “positive energy” campaign and advertisements about the Government securing more rapid antigen tests have already hit our screens. Both are full of inaccuracies, I suggest. Or just plain propaganda.

Government appointments galore, or is that galah?

The Grattan Institute reports that:

“Ministers are responsible for filling hundreds of positions on independent government boards and agencies. In the lead-up to an election, there seems to be a rush to fill these spots – even some of the ones that aren’t currently vacant.

Governments like to control who sits in powerful positions, even more so when these positions are prestigious or well-paid. A forthcoming Grattan Institute report will show that appointing “political mates” to these positions is becoming more common.”

There isn’t much to be done except to highlight the hypocrisy. These appointments of former politicians and staffers need to be forensically examined by the media and Labor. Hopefully, the press will provide background on those who get a position.

Looking at a way to boost integrity?

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese, in his address to the Press Club on Tuesday, January 25, placed great emphasis on the restoration of the dignity that once was the Australian parliament. Making things transparent that have been allowed to disappear will take more effort, and still more challenging will be the replacement of those who have made it all possible. It won’t be easy to suppress the influence of money and corruption after it has flourished carte blanche for a decade or more. But all of it must be done.

Elections allow all of us a chance to change things. They afford us the opportunity to right wrongs and start afresh.

In his speech, Albanese said:

“A country and a people as extraordinary as ours deserve a government to match. A government of competence and a government of integrity. A government that doesn’t get out of the way but helps to create the way.”

Hear hear, Albo. Hear hear.